The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-09
A SURGEONS LIFE.
A Page From the Experience of the
Father of Surgery in His Day.

A Page From the Experience of the
Father of Surgery in His Day.
From the autobiography of the Late DR.. Gross
have always maintained that it is impos-
slhle for any man to be a great surgeon if
he is destitute, even in a considerable de-
gree, OF the finer feelings of our nature. I
nave often lain awake for hours the night
before an important operation, and suf-
fered great mental distress for days after it
was over, until | was certain that my
patlent was out of danger. | do not think
IL Is possible for criminal to feel much
worse the night before his execution than a
surgeon when he knows that upon his skill
and attention must depend the fate of a
valuable citizen, husband father, mother,
or child. Surgery under such circumstances
is terrible tasknaster, feeding like vul-
ture upon mans vitals. 1t is surprising
That any surgeon in large practice should
ever attain to a respectable old age, so
great are the wear and tear of mind and
body.
The world has seen many a sad picture.
VIII draw one of the surgeon. 1t is midday
the sun is bright and beautiful; all nature is
redolent OF joy; men and women crowd the
street, arrc--ed in their best, and all, appar-
entity, is peace and happiness within and
without. In large house, almost over
hanging this street SO full of life and gayety,
lies upon couch an emaciated figure, once
one of the sweetest and loyeliest of her sex,
a. confiding and affectionate wife and the
adored mother of numerous children, the
subject of frightful disease of one of her
limbs, or, it may be, of her jaw, if not of a
still more important part of her body. In
an adjoining room is the surgeon, with his
assistants, spreading ont his instruments and
getting things in readiness for the impend-
ing operation He assigns to each his appro-
pirate place One administers chloroform !;
another takes charge of the limb; one screws
down the tourniquet upon the principal
artery, and another holds himself in readi-
ness to follow the knife with his sponge The
flaps are soon formed, the bone severed. the
vessels ted and the huge wound approx
mated: The woman is pale and CHASTITY, tho
pulse hardly perceptible, the skin wet with
clammy perspiration, the voice husky, the
sight indistinct. Some one whispers into
the ear OF the busy surgeon: 1.-The patient,
| fear, is dying" Restoratives are admin
istered, the pulse gradually rises, and after
few hours of hard work and terrible
anxiety reaction occurs. The poor woman
the an@sthetic, shock, and loss of blood.
An assistant, a kind of sentinel, is placed as
guard over her, with instructions to watch
her with the closest care, and to send word
the moment the slightest change for the
worse is seen.
The surgeon goes about his business, visits
other patients on the way, and at length,
long after the usual hour, he sits down,
worried and exhausted, to his cold and
comfortless meal, with a mouth al
most as dry and a voice as husky
as his patients He eats mechanically,
exchanges hardly word with any member
of his family, and sullenly retires to his
study to prescribe for his patients-never
during all this time, forgetting the poor
mutilated object he left a few hours ago.
He is about to lie down to get moments
repose after the severe toll of the day, when
suddenly he hears loud ringing of the bell
and servant, breathless with excitement,
begS his immediate presence at the sick
chamber with the exclamation, ''They think
Mrs is dying" He hurries to the
scene with rapid pace and anxious feeling
The stump Is of a crimson color, and the
patient lies in a profound swoon. An artery
has suddenly given way, the exhaustion is
extreme, cordials and stimulants are at once
brought into requisition, the dressings are
removed, and the recllsant vessel is secured
The vital current Gibbs and flows, reaction
is still more tardy than before, and it is not
until late hour of the night that the sur
geon, literally worn out in mind and BODY,
retlres to his home in search of repose. Does
he sleepl He tries, but he cannot close his
eyes. His mind is with his patient; he hears
every footstep upon the pavement under his
window, and is in momentary expectation
of the ringing of the night bell. He is dis
turbed by the widest fancies, he sees the
most terrific objects, and, as he rises early
in the morning to hasten to his patients
chamber, he feels that he has been cheated
of the rest of which he stood so much in
need Is this picture overdrawn2 1 have
sat for it thousand times, and there is not
an educated. conscientious surgeon that will
not certify to its accuracy.